Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Carlisle works elsewhere
Carlisle grades A− for jobs and income and B for walkability. 1,318 jobs are based in Carlisle; 2,446 of its residents have a job. Measured by household income, Carlisle is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Carlisle apart
Carlisle and Des Moines trade workers both ways
Des Moines is the top workplace for Carlisle residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Carlisle come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Carlisle workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 26 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 199 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Carlisle’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Carlisle is better than 78% of U.S. towns, #30 of 140 in Iowa. The poverty rate holds Carlisle’s grade up (3.1%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (6.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carlisle could be anywhere from B to A+.
33% of working residents work in Des Moines
Where Carlisle clocks in
12% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Each way, about 26 minutes from Carlisle
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carlisle workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,994 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Iowa: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The daily commute in and out of Carlisle
On a workday 2,193 residents head out to work, 253 work right here, and 1,065 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,400 people are in Carlisle on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Goods, not services: 28% of the jobs in Carlisle
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carlisle, 2014 → 2024: 1,212 → 1,318. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Carlisle’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Carlisle commutes
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how Carlisle gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Carlisle is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #98 of 140 in Iowa. Both inputs place Carlisle near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,218 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 41% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.3% of Carlisle households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Carlisle’s commuters take a bus or train.
870th of 3,862: where Carlisle ranks among U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 145 | Solon IA | 3,345 | $113K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 198 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 227 | Huxley IA | 4,715 | $112K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 868 | Woodmore MD | 4,613 | $184K | 7.3% | 6.9% | <1% | A− |
| 869 | St. Johns AZ | 3,336 | $132K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 23% | A− |
| 870 | Carlisle IA | 4,532 | $109K | 3.1% | 6.1% | 10% | A− |
| 871 | Islandia NY | 3,733 | $116K | 7.7% | 5.5% | 6% | A− |
| 872 | Evansville WI | 5,837 | $81K | 5.6% | 2.6% | 19% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,862 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Carlisle, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Carlisle: questions
What is the median household income in Carlisle?
$109,191 (±$25,012) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carlisle?
3.1%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carlisle?
26 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carlisle work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Des Moines (33%, 8 mi), West Des Moines (12%, 16 mi), Ankeny (5%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Carlisle walkable?
Carlisle is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carlisle without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carlisle, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carlisle
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.